RTA to Add New ‘West Shore Express’ Route

LAKEWOOD, OH — RTA is working to get riders downtown a lot faster by announcing plans for a new bus route.

West Shore Express will take over the 55 and 55F routes that run from Fairview Park into Cleveland.

City leaders broke ground on the project Friday. There, they also talked about what people can expect.

“In total, about a $20 million investment is going to be made to redo roadways, put up great bus stations and to buy new vehicles to make this a very first class transportation system,” said RTA General Manager Joe Calabrese.

He thinks the improvements are going to make a big difference. Some riders seem to think so too.

“I think that’s a wonderful idea, because the bus only runs once an hour and if you miss that bus, you’re just stuck and stranded,” said Shannon McGee.

She rides the bus about four times a week and plans to use it more once the new route is put into place.

“I’m happy that they’re going to do something about adding more buses,” she said.

Traffic signals and patterns will also change to get buses through town much quicker.

“I think it’s going to help us and help them. It’s going to help the bus drivers not get into so many conflicts. Those bus drivers go through a lot packing up those buses,” said Julie Moff.